


A Spirit with unfinished business (won't make a good guardian angel)

by escailyy



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: BAMF Katherine Pierce, Caroline Forbes Goes to New Orleans, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Denial of Feelings, Domestic Caroline Forbes/Klaus Mikaelson, F/M, Female Friendship, Ghost Drifting, Protective Elijah Mikaelson
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:01:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27958799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/escailyy/pseuds/escailyy
Summary: long story short, before she entered nirvana Liz Forbes sent down a very special ghost to protect her daughter Caroline. but the annoying ghost of a bitchy dead doppelganger is the last thing Care needs after the death of her mom, or is it? given a chance Katherine might turn out to be the best guardian spirit there is (especially because she's an enthusiastic klaroline shipper)As long as Caroline doesn't bring up Elijah that is...
Relationships: Caroline Forbes/Klaus Mikaelson, Elijah Mikaelson/Katherine Pierce
Comments: 6
Kudos: 38





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> okay so this is a three shot mostly centered around katoline friendship, plus klaroline, plus kalijah...eventually. so enjoy. first chapter is katoline centric, second chapter is klaroline centric and maybe there will be a kalijah epilogue I haven't decided yet.

**okay so this is a three shot mostly centered around katoline friendship, plus klaroline, plus kalihah...eventually. so enjoy. first chapter is katoline centric, second chapter is klaroline centric and maybe there will be a kalijah epilogue I haven't decided yet**

"that's it these suckers are worth nothing, and to think you all thought that me dying would remedy that" The translucent girl complained as she appeared slowly next to Caroline, it was the morning after Liz's funeral and for some reason after so much she'd been trough Caroline didn't even bother herself with feelings of surprise "your mother died and boo hoo they have to make it all about them...Liz is fine by the way, the feathers up high are showering her with eternal happiness...that's why I never understood funerals, I mean if they knew the kind of clustersfus that went on in the ceiling up high for the good people... This would be a celebration party not a cry fest"

"Katherine? What, how...oh my gosh you are a ghost aren't you" Caroline groaned watching the translucent doppelganger dance around her room "My mother just died! And I get the ghost of freaking Katherine Pierce? Why? Haven't I gone trough enough? And if you can do this why couldn't my mom?"

"Liz said the same thing when I saw her at the crossroads, but she's a white spirit now, the good folk I mean and they can't be near anything human after they get their entry ticket into happy land, I imagine she's having a good talk with your idiot guardian angel as we speak, he's getting fired I imagine...but I'm not allowed inside the pearly gates so what should I know?...anyway since I'm not allowed into happy land and the devil thinks I'm an abomination your mom made a deal with HER guardian angel to get me out of her hair and voila here I am"

"wait a minute you mean heaven exists? And my mom sent you here?" Caroline mumbled because yep that's just the kind of thing her mom would do " what did she say?"

"Okay don't offend the big guy of course happy land exists, Heaven, Nirvana, Elysium, whatever you chose to call it, where do you think the souls of your dinners go to after you drain them? Humans go to the nicest place in the afterlife, nothing like the other side, even hell is out of this world" Katherine gushed " And as for your mother, she told me to tell you that you were her greatest achievement in life, that your love for her was all that kept her going after Bill left and that she is going to be looking after you from her spot in happy land, that she wants you to be happy, actually she said a lot of things but I'm not going to tell you about them until after you pack"

"Pack? I'm not packing Katherine please leave me alone!"

"Nope, not unless you don't want me to tell you anything else Sheriff Forbes said"

And holding that over her head, the annoying ghost of a dead doppelganger convinced Caroline to hop on a car headed north and never look back.

Okay so maybe taking advantage of an emotional just-orphaned baby vampire wouldn't grant Katherine any brownie points with the big guy up high, but as she'd learned in the time after she'd been sucked inside the void: human afterlife had way too many logistics and if Liz Forbes wanted Katherine to fill in for Caroline's guardian angel while said piece of saintly garbage was out of service, then she had no problem with it.

After all not even the devil wanted her in hell, turns out holy judgment of a five hundred and plus years soul just didn't occur in the "after" her soul knew too much and lived too much, allowing her into hell was asking for a hostile takeover and happy land didn't allow sinners with her track record in, by all means she belonged in the other side with all the other supernatural blooded people but as she'd died a human ( traveler powers negated) she was sent to the after, where nobody wanted to take her soul in, so Katherine had just been stuck in the crossroads between the good place and the bad place, sulking while other dead passes her by...everyone but Liz Forbes.

"Ready to go? Our next stop is Cairo, now chop chop, compel yourself a plane and off we go, I'm taking you to le tour di belle Mort, the tour of the beautiful death, human death is a blast cupcake, once this vacation is over you'll hopefully miss mommy dearest a lot less" Katherine sang clapping her hands and heading for Caroline's Ford.

And Caroline followed, fifty percent numb, thirty percent mourning and twenty percent too hurt for words. The appearance of Katherine's ghost with the message from her mother had been shocking enough to push Caroline away from the switch, thinking about her mother, what Liz would want, her mother wanted her to be happy, and she couldn't be happy in mystic falls, heck she didn't think she could be happy anywhere as long as her insides felt like a post apocalyptic wasteland and the ghost in her bedroom had tacitly driven that point home

"So why el Cairo? Did my mom tell you about that too?" Caroline wondered as she drove away

"no cupcake, our tour starts in Egypt because those dears had the biggest cult to the human afterlife that ever existed, trust me once we leave Cairo behind, you'll understand Liz better"

"I don't want to understand, I just want her back!" Caroline screamed into the steering wheel "I just want the hurt to go away...why haven't you ditched me? You are Katherine Pierce"

"I know it hurts Forbes and I wont pretend you can get over it, like lesser me tried to convince you, I too lost my family when I was a baby vampire remember? So I know that the thing you want the least is pity" the dead girl snapped then Katherine was silent for a moment "I'm just doing what I would have wanted someone to do for me after I lost my family, back in my days as a baby vamp I just wanted to forget, to go somewhere that didn't remind me of home...of the loved ones I'd never see again"

"I...I think I understand" Caroline mumbled and ignored Katherine as she pressed the gas pedal.

They went to Cairo first, Katherine led Caroline to the heart of Ka Osiris, the Egyptian oasis where a cult to the old Egyptian gods was focused on the afterlife, the journey of the good souls and their relation to the great Anubis, protector of the deceased, then continuing her tour the ghost girl took her to the heart of the Romani city of Cluj-Napoca in Transylvania, using her clout as a "spirit guard" to get the oldest gypsy coalescent in the world to trust Caroline, it was a surprise how only true mediums could see Katherine, only the oldest of the oldest could sense her, she was a "human spirit" caught in the veil of the human after, not the supernatural one, one of a kind forever at crossroads, in a plane of existence in which only she resided permanently, so it was very hard for a normal witch to pick up on her existence.

The Romani were far kinder than the Egyptians in that aspect, having more focus on the living, their seers, not mere fortune tellers, immediately made vague but "astonishing" predictions on Caroline's future as soon as they saw her, predictions that the other gypsies seemed to be overjoyed about.

"a Queen at last, you must join us for our festival to thank the goddess" the leader of the Romani begged Caroline "oh how joyful to meet a vampire that respects Romani, we would be honored if you stayed to celebrate with us...and your spirit friend is welcome of course"

With the Romani she danced under the full moon and learned the nomadic song of their night goddess, she had her palm read, was told about red string of fate that tied all soulmates together and saw a world of blood magic she'd never imagined existed.

Her friends called her constantly in the first weeks, texted and emailed, but the only ones Caroline ever felt like replying to were Stefan and Bonnie.

Caroline where are you? Please I'm worried about you- B

It's okay Bonnie, I'm just finding myself -C  
And underneath was a picture of Caroline wearing a white Indian sari surrounded by little girls similarly dressed with the indian Brihadishwara Hindu temple as a backdrop.

In India Caroline met the ancient "Sadhus" (a very revered type of wise man) of the Hindu culture and the old witches in the Brihadishwara temple even held a traditional pooja (prayer) ceremony in her mother's honor, everyone in the village attended and as Liz's only remaining family Caroline dressed in a white mourning sari and burnt incense to gods she didn't believe in, but it was among the supernatural of India that Caroline first felt a semblance of acceptance in her heart.

And there she also called Enzo, who from that moment on, became the only one she would regularly give updates to. There was just something about the absolute acceptance she found in India that reminded her of Enzo.

Enzo who rarely seemed to want anything from her in exchange for his friendship...sort of like Stefan and her used to be before the lines got blurred.

In the Himalayas Katherine led her to the Buddhist Vampires in the lost city of Shangri La, where again Caroline was welcome with the height of kindness thanks to the witches who could sense her "spirit companion", everyone could relate in Shangri La, it was a village where everyone seemed to understand her loss in an intrinsic way, it wasn't pity what they showed, more like they shared her sadness as a whole, because as Buddhists her loss was their loss, monks and their witchy guardians gave Caroline all the space she needed, blessing her in the ways if their people before she continued her journey.

It contrasted sharply with the "Dia de los muertos" festivities she was invited to in the depths of Guadalajara, where those who'd passed away seemed to be a reason for lavish parties and not any type of mourning.

Katherine's ghost powers were not many, mostly they were limited to creating force fields around Caroline but she did have an ability to change her outfits just by wishing it, so "dia de los muertos" was a blast for her too, dressing up to the nines with Caroline.

Athens brought Caroline face to face with a coven of witches who venerated the mythology associated with the Greek underworld and their eternal rulers: Hades and Persephone.

"oh look it's Klaus and you! I knew it" Katherine needled in when the coven showed them a painting depicting a faceless golden haired goddess picking a daffodil and a god covered in black Greek armor watching her from the distance.

"Shut up Katherine" Caroline snapped back, then thinking about it for a moment, she took a copy of the painting and sent it to be framed and delivered to New Orleans best museum.

And finally towards the end of their tour Caroline found herself sitting at the top of Angel Falls, breathing the purest of airs as she felt herself accepted her loss as something beautiful, there she came to terms with the pain that would never go away, embraced her human feelings as she'd never done before and purged her tears down the great waterfall, because if there was something every culture she visited had in common was their belief in the goodness of Caroline's soul. And once she was done crying, she took a deep cleansing breath... And jumped.

Plunging down one of the largest waterfalls in earth, letting go of the things that held her back while she resurfaced under the clean water.

"Ready to go home?" Katherine asked once they reached the nearest airport with a serene smile Caroline nodded "yes, I'm ready"

What she didn't know was that while she'd been dancing around the world looking for a way to make peace with her mother's death and making new friends in the most peaceful locations known to man or witch (except maybe Mexico because even trying to respect the dead those people threw a party), her friends had been getting into trouble and without any way to contact her, things had become... Strained between her friends at home.

When Kai started becoming a problem and Bonnie was again en-route to play hero and everything was once again revolving around Elena...Caroline found herself rolling up into a ball in a never-seen-before panic attack.

Turns out Katherine was right, Mystic Falls really was suffocating. But Caroline still tried her best to be a good friend...breathe past the suffocation of her lungs.

Three weeks back in Mystic Falls and Katherine decided quite pointedly that she was done with it,if she was going to spend the rest of her afterlife protecting Caroline, then the first step was to annoy Caroline into facing the big elephant in the room.

Which started by bluntly bringing the subject up during brunch.

"Hey since I'm dead now...maybe we should visit Klaus!"


	2. Time to visit an original or two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New Orleans looks better than ever with Klaus in residence and Caroline no longer in denial.

"Hey since I'm dead now...maybe we should visit Klaus!"

To be fair Caroline's guardian ghost really hated Elena. And Mystic Falls...Having brunch with _Elena in Mystic Falls_ was just below having sex with Elijah's mother in her list of things she would never do in this life or the next.

"Oh dear God NO" Caroline snapped with way too much force making Elena look at her weirdly

"Care I know you don't like Damon but it's my choice, I thought you would be happy that I'm happy"

"see this is why I want to go to New Orleans! I would rather visit the genocidal hybrid that actually cares about you than listen to this Irish bull!" Katherine groaned "Stop torturing me Caroline! I'm begging you"

"Sorry, didn't mean for it to come out that way, I just need time to adjust, that's all" Caroline replied in Katherine's direction. then looking at Elena she amended "...adjust to your situation with Damon, you know its all so...new for me"

"Please kill me now" Katherine groaned "You are worse than SHE is"

Katherine didn't stop her begging/complaining/badgering...especially not when she was "forced to stick around while the mystic falls gang" came up with yet another stupid way to eventually kill themselves...and Caroline if she kept helping them.

"Next week is Mardi Grass...I bet Klaus would like it if you flashed him for beads" Katherine said the next day while flipping her outfit from a replica of Elena's bland garb to a flashy masquerade domino

"I said freaking NO" Caroline screeched "thanks for putting the image in my head, now I'll never look at beads in the same way again"

"Because it will make you horny?"

"Kat stop it! I'm trying to not think about Klaus!"

"I want you to think about Klaus cupcake" Katherine snorted "He's the best sex you'll ever get in YOUR WHOLE ETERNITY"

""I know part of this guardian spirit gig thing means that you need me to be happy but newsflash" Caroline spelled out with a glare "Sex doesn't equal happiness" Caroline groaned again bringing her hands to cover her face

"if your really think that then you haven't ridden an Original's body hard enough"

"ughh I can't I just can't...just..stop talking Katherine"

The next day she popped up it as Caroline was in the middle of a conversation with Stefan and Damon, the bitch just popped behind Stefan wearing another Mardi Gras costume and smiled "You know you could be having hot hybrid sex right now Caroline...think about it you could be in the middle of hot sweaty pornographic possibly kinky sex"

"And Damon thinks that the only way to protect Elena from herself is to have Bonnie encase her in that barrier spell" Stefan continued to tell Caroline because apparently this Kai thing was serious trouble.

"Sex with the second oldest and most knowledgeable male in the free world...you could be bagging him!...if you wanted to!" the ghost sang saucily

"Seriously? I said no!" Caroline shouted out loud making Damon and Stefan do a double take

"sorry geez didn't think you were still sore about bunny eating" Damon grumbled putting his hands up in the air .

"are you okay Caroline?" Stefan asked and Caroline cursed Katherine for being only visible to her

As the days passed Katherine began upping her game both in outfits and Klaus related comments... if Caroline told her to be quiet, she would suddenly appear dressed like a drag Queen and begin to pantomime the conversations of her friends Ru Paul style. If they were alone she would start extolling the virtues of a visit to New Orleans and the entire original family until Caroline screamed, heck Katherine even started dishing running commentary on her sex life (Scratching the itch with your daily happy meal does not a sex life make cupcake) WHILE SHE WAS HAVING SEX.

And then after being on Caroline's case non stop, being a professional sociopath expert at playing mind games, Katherine played her best card.

She left Caroline alone.

For three whole days.

Knowing fully that left to her own devices Caroline's mind would stew over her problem and think it deeply and trough eventually obsessing over said problem, because while Katherine really considered that the only asset Klaus could bring to a relationship with Caroline could be the mind blowing sex, she knew that Caroline had insight into Klaus's ughh "feelings" (which to Katherine's ghostly eyes he didn't have any intention of showing to anybody EVER even if by grace of the triple goddess he DID have such a thing as a heart). And as someone with insight into Klaus Mikaelson's non existent tender side Caroline might see more in him than what everyone else saw, if she agreed to have sex with him Caroline MUST have seen something in the hybrid genocidal maniac right? Because experience taught her that goody two shoes Caroline only had sex win non-meals if they meant something to her (with the exception of her human days, frankly Katherine was glad she killed stupid-easy-to-compel Caroline)

Katherine knew Caroline didn't need just the physical aspect of life to be happy unlike her, Caroline actually wanted and liked to form connections to people, she got to know them. So she probably knew a deeper version of Klaus than everyone was aware of. Katherine would bet her favorite Manolos on it.

So all she had to do, was plant the idea, hammer it into her conscious and once she was gone, Caroline's own head would do the rest.

Caroline did just that, the first morning she woke up Katherine-fee it was weird, after almost a year and a half filled with snarky commentary everywhere she went, Caroline thought a lack of Katherine would feel like heaven...but it didn't. (Katherine couldn't metaphysically blink herself away from Caroline's general geographic location, as a guardian ghost she was somewhat tied to whatever city boundaries her charge was in, but Katherine Pierce was an expert at bending geography to her will, and Mystic Falls was a big place when you wanted to avid someone)

the morning went fine...well sort of fine. And then Caroline walked out of her house and to Bonnie's.

The suffocation was almost unbearable as soon as Bonnie and Elena started talking and without Katherine around to criticize them Caroline was left with too much silence in her mind, silence was filled with her own negative thoughts, she never realized how much energy she expended on mentally finding comebacks to Katherine's snarky comments until Katherine wasn't there to distract her anymore and lacking her usual distraction, while battling off unsettling realizations, her thoughts latched into the next best unhealthy thing that could fill the morbid silences of her mind.

Klaus.

And for once since she was alone, Caroline allowed herself to think about him...And only him.

She thought about Klaus, in a rational way, then in an irrational way, then in a fantastic-in-another-life-if-he-werent-a-mass-murderer way. She thought about the Egyptian mummifying rituals, and the prophecies of the Romanian seers and the Indian witches' lore on soulmates, about the kind way the Buddhist monks spoke about the future they saw for her. She thought about the Mexican Santeria girls who did dark magic to find their soulmates.

She thought about the hugs she received from the worshipers of Hecate, in Greece. In the dead of the night Caroline thought about Hades and Persephone.

The more time alone she spent, the more Caroline stewed on it, forcing herself to answer questions that he himself might ask her if and when she eventually showed up at his doorstep. Was she ready? Was she sure? Did she realize what going to New Orleans entailed? Was he what she really wanted?

Caroline had to see him face to face to make sure.

And then Katherine came back, all smiles and sunshine asking if they could go to Klaus land now?.

Okay so she caved, it was either New Orleans or an exorcism and it was hard enough to find freaking witches who could even sense Katherine, finding a paragon of magic who could get rid of her would take eons. So she caved and for the second time in a row, got into her car and drove away from Mystic Falls and to the nearest airport. Leaving her friends a couple of voicemails and an I'll-be-back-eventually post it note in Enzo's fridge.

"OK so what am I going to say? Do I just show up at his place unannounced and go 'hey Klaus my new ghost bff who happens to be the bitchy doppelganger you chased for five hundred years thinks I really need a dose of hybrid dick, mind letting me ride yours for a few days? Just until I run out of orgasms' Cuz I can see how that's not going to make him paranoid" Caroline said sarcastically as she walked down the airport pretending to be talking to her Bluetooth.

"Pff first of all Care Care, Klaus Mikaelson must have his house better secured than the pentagon, two, even if he didn't there's this multitude of ughh people, that would get in the way if you did and third, I thought we agreed on seeing the parades first!" Katherine cheered blinking herself a show girl outfit "Rule number one in catching a man: you don't go to him, he must come to you, now come on I know just the right warlock to fill you in with his whereabouts"

Turns out Katherine's warlock friend was the assistant of the freaking mayor, Marty Dupont was a fly under the radar that knew just everything about everyone, he belonged to a coven of witches mostly made up of Tulane sorority girls who acted more like magic groupies than anything else and he seemed to be thrilled to host Caroline, which according to Katherine was the best way to blend in while they enjoyed Mardi gras, what with Marcel and Hayley and who knows who else fighting it out in the French quarter, hanging out with the Theta Phi coven was like hiding in plain sight. Plus Marty even scored Caroline an invitation to a masquerade that Marcel Gerard of all people was holding to get in Hayley's good graces.

Dressing up was the best part because while she'd been to masquerades before, she'd never been to one where costumes were mandatory and she had the perfect one she wanted to wear.

"and I was like omg, I'm not that fat you looser" Marty said as he led Caroline out of the car "you see why I asked to go on a break right?" Having long recovered from the shock of seeing Caroline's costume he was babbling about his latest girlfriend drama

Caroline replied adjusting her mask and patting him in the head like a puppy"well I hope today you makeup with her Jessica sounds like a...catch"

"She sounds like a bitch" Katherine snorted "Ughh Marcel could you be more tacky? A feeding party?" She said rolling her eyes as they gave Marty's invite to the doorman seeing the amount of humans attending

"Oh la la mother of dragons" Caroline heard a male voice whistle as soon as she entered the room. Immediately a couple of "why didn't I think of that" and "I volunteer as her Khal Drogo" followed from both male and female.

"I think I'm making an impression" Caroline said taking Marty's arm and dragging him to the gaggle of giggling girls from his coven by the open bar, walking like a queen, pretending the attention was her due and never betraying how nervous she felt inside at the prospect of seeing Klaus.

"Of course you are cher, it isn't every day one gets to see a Daenerys Targaryen copy this close" Marty joked about her costume and immediately was drawn into a game of thrones debate with the other witches and the bartender "hey Cami, bring a drink for ma belle tourist Khaleesi, she's here for Mardi make her feel like a Queen" Marty shouted loudly making the blonde steampunk girl behind the bar shoot Caroline a dirty look

Soon a dark and handsome vampire Katherine identified as the famous "full-of-crap-ass-kisser Marcel approached the bartender for info on her, when he got none, he came straight to her and Caroline played dumb just for fun... "so Khalesi what brings you to the Big Easy, it's the first time I see you around here and normally vampires don't come to New Orleans just for fun"

"oh Marcel, Still the same ass you were in the eighties" Katherine snapped sticking her tongue out

"I came to see a friend during the holidays" Caroline replied putting down her dragon mask trying not to snicker "then I realized I didn't known where he lived because the jerk never actually gave me an address so I convinced Marty to do a tracking spell.. One thing led to another and here I am, as his date while he makes Jessica jealous" She half lied rolling her eyes and raising her glass "plus I'm nowhere near to getting laid and feeling very frustrated...but meh the night is young"

"And we are getting you some!" Katherine agreed brushing imaginary lint from her translucent Maergery Tyrell costume.

"well I could always help you up in the getting laid part darling, any girl would be jealous if a man had you as their date" Marcel laughed but was interrupted when a manicured hand shot out and held his wrist before he could touch Caroline

"no you won't, not if you value your liver and your good standing with my brother" Rebekah interrupted before he could dig himself in a hole "This one is trouble trust me you really don't want to end up like her last boyfriend"

"Why does everybody bring Tyler up like that?...so big deal I've got terrible taste in men, sue me" Caroline grumbled "Nice to see you too Rebekah , love the bat girl ensemble by the way, let me guess one of your brothers came as Bruce Wayne?" Caroline couldn't resist trowing out in a passive aggressive way "

"Probably Elijah, I used to be a perfect Selina Kyle you know" Katherine sighed blinking herself Anne Hathaway's cat suit "the Cat and the Bat, I miss those days"

"and Caroline how nice? Last thing I heard you had a psychotic break and disappeared after your mother died, flipped the switch and went underground is the rumor"

And with that Caroline began laughing, almost spilling her drink into Marcel and letting the musical sound of her laughter reverberate "oh lord is that what they said? A psycho break? Seriously? Let me guess..Damon did that...no wonder Bonnie kept bringing care packages to my place after I came back" Caroline kept laughing "oh man like I'm weak enough to flip the switch after a family member dies? Do I look like Elena Gilbert to you? Okay okay that was mean but come on Rebekah that's like the funniest thing ever"

Klaus heard her laugh before he saw her, she was telling stories about the places she'd been to in order to make peace with Rebekah and he could see the people around them hanging on her every word and whispering about the beautiful newcomer baby vampire that seemed so at ease insulting the deadly Rebekah Mikaelson in her own turf, but the moment she saw him, lo and behold a genuine smile of fondness crossed her face "Klaus" she whispered falling silent subconsciously bringing a finger to touch her lips

He noticed the gesture and his eyes automatically went to her lips "hello love, fancy seeing you here" He said taking her hand "interesting and as beautiful as ever"

"Oh no, not this again Nik, hello I'm here still, Caroline are you even listening?" Rebekah tried to interrupt the sexually charged staring match "Nik, I'm going to bed a human...Nik Marcel just came out as a cross dresser...the witches just spray painted your favorite artworks...Nik stop looking at her dammit"

But Klaus ignored her and Caroline held out her hand "well you do owe me a shirt" was all Caroline's brain thought of saying feeling suddenly very nervous "I mean not that I came here for a shirt..because Mystic Falls has lots of shirts but New Orleans has better ones and my mom is dead and thought just that I needed to put on a shirt that didn't reek of the life I had when she was alive because every other shirt was suffocating, but I didn't want to bother you aaaand I need to shut up now" Caroline babbled mortified

"So you came here...because you felt suffocated" Klaus tried with a barely disguised smirk "My condolences for the passing of your mother" he added more solemnly

"Its fine she's in a better place" Caroline said sadly " And yes I felt suffocated no that's not it..I mean I came here to see you...as a visit.. For Mardi Gras "

"What happened to you blonde distraction?"Translucent Katherine guffawed at her side "just tell him you want to have stamina defying sex! He said he liked your honesty"

"When did you arrive? I would have made arrangements if I knew you were coming love, you know you could never be a bother" he said noticing the way Caroline tensed not knowing it was at Katherine's words "provided you don't have any ulterior motives"

Caroline let out a dry laugh licking her lips"not the kind you think"

"Yup, her ulterior motives involve using your body as her personal amusement park...not killing you" Katherine pouted conjuring an invisible dagger and pointing it at Klaus

Caroline wanted to follow Katherine's advice, she wanted to just say to hell with it and pull Klaus in for a kiss, but looking at his face, perfect lips, wary eyes and feeling the tension humming between them she knew she couldn't do it, she wasn't Katherine "I came to tell you that I'm sorry, I think I needed to see you in person for that, I'm sorry for...everything okay" Klaus opened his mouth to say something "just let me finish" Caroline interrupted him "mom dying it just drove a point home, and I kept telling myself that because you were an evil bastard I was justified in not apologizing, but I'm not, this is for me, not for you, when you treat someone who is kind to you badly you make amends, that's how my mom raised me" then looking around and realizing that almost the entire house was staring at her she sighed "this isn't working I'm not making much sense right?"

"Maybe we should continue this conversation in private sweetheart, I feel I am suddenly overcome with concern for your well being, last time I checked the only times someone decides to make amends to me in particular is when they are preparing for death"

"I am not considering suicide Klaus! Why is comunicating with you so hard? Fine lets go" Caroline grumbled crossing her arms over her chest "Might as well spill my guts somewhere else"

"oh come on talking? Who needs talking? Skip to the sexy times, talking screws up everything" Katherine protested following behind as they flashed away.

In secconds they arrived to a mansion that had the Mikaelson seal stamped all over it, like Katherine predicted it was surounded by hybrids and like Katherine predicted they were all on their guard as soon as they saw Caroline, a unknown beautiful blonde vampire dressed like a goddess strolling next to Klaus into his home? That had trouble spelled all over.

He was leading her by the hand and Caroline could not stop obsessing over how warm his hand was, she felt herself stuck in a paradox when he closed the door to what could only be Elijah's library. The smell of burnt sage was always a sign that Elijah owned the place Katherine had once told Caroline.

"Now you talk and however much I enjoy you Caroline if I find out that you are here on the bequest of your friends..." or in a plot to harm Hope (he couldn't even bring himself to say it, he was a father now, Haley was married to Jackson but he was a father and his first concern was always Hope) "then so help me sweetheart"

"I don't want anything from you" Caroline blurted out almost like reading his thoughts as she walked inside the very stuffy looking library watching him flinch she amended "not anything that you don't want to give at least...the point is, I'm not here to ask you for something, or distract you from someone's murder plot or to beg you for something that would benefit my friends...I'm just here because..."

" Because...?" Klaus was honestly puzzled, here she was, the girl of his dreams, as he predicted on his doorstep minutes away from asking him to take a chance on her and he was this close to lashing out and ruining it, simply because it was too good to be true "Out with it love, your motives can't be all that bad"

"Because I wanted to make sure the apologies were out of the way...and that I could llook at you in the eye when I did this" And just like that Caroline flashed up to him and kissed him without thinking much about it.

It took Klaus less than a second to respond to her impulsive kiss, but the moment he did, Caroline groaned in pleasure when his tongue asked for entrance into her mouth, unlike their romp in the woods, this time Klaus and Caroline took time to savour each other, escalating the kiss as slowly as possible until Klaus's wolf got the better of him and her brought his hand up to rip the front of her dress apart "I might owe you another costume along with that shirt after this sweetheart" he whispered into her skin trailing his lips down her collarbone

dimly Caroline was aware of Katherine cheering like a one direction fan in the background but in the corners of her mind she knew that Katherine hated Klaus and as much as a voyeur she claimed to be, watching him have sex with a friend of hers was nothing shot of nauseating, so all her bets were of invisible Katherine floating behind the door shouting loud enough to get Caroline to hear her.

Screw Katherine Klaus was doing that thing with his tongue around her breast again! "It's okay, you can always replace my entire wardrobe with your shirts" she gasped feeling his incisors graze the side of her in agreement "see..I did have ulterior motives...this..this is too good"

Klaus chuckled darkly "don't think you escaped that little talk we need to have...but for now, it can wait" and then went back to ripping her dress apart "have you gotten more beautiful since I last saw you Caroline?" it was his turn to growl when she unbuttoned his shirt in order to caress his muscles with her dainty hands pulling him to her with force

"Maybe I just wore better Lingerie" she whispered in his ear

"blood red, always been your color love" he hummed kissing her again and appreciating the red lace confection that covered her strategically once the Khaleesi dress was torn to shreds in the ground " it would also look better discarded in my bedroom floor"

"You mean to say we'll actually make it to a decent bed this time?" she teased in a gasp kissing his muscles and licking the beads of sweat that begun to appear down his perfect abs

"trust me, decent is not the word any woman has ever used to describe my bed"

to use Katherine's words, the rest was history. No really, they banged loud enough for Kol to complain. And he didn't even live with Klaus. Katherine knew that Caroline was a screamer but come on, she sounded like the entire porn industry was camped out in the psychotic hybrid's room. Katherine had to listen to his hybrids' tacky music to cover the trauma.

Part of Katherine was cheering for Caroline's good fortune (Klaus Mikaelson's love was like the world's most coveted health insurance) but now that they were getting it on, Katherine's existence was for the most part...boring.

Considering that on Mardi Gras week whenever Caroline managed to resurface, she was always being carried bridal style by Klaus (yes ladies and gentlemen Caroline Forbes proved to the entire New Orleans magical community plus Rebekah and Kol that there was actually such thing as sex that left you unable to walk). So now Katherine was left to her own devices to either hang out in the Mikaelson Mansion or explore New Orleans on her own ghostly devices.

That was until Elijah Mikaelson returned from his trip abroad just in time to watch as the woman he thought long dead rattled out her personal brand of snarky comments in his family's breakfast table.

"Come on Caroline, just one tiny push down the stairs, I know you don't like the supercalifragilistc magical wolf vampire troll princess over there" Katherine said pointing to Haley who was talking to Klaus outside in the garden "if she'd insulted me like that, I'd have poisoned her, made Klaus' horses drag her body trough town and danced on her grave...instead I'm graciously pointing out that pushing her down a flight of stairs would be really satisfying"

She was translucent almost eerily so, wearing a dress that would not be out of place in a Milan runaway, if Elijah closed his eyes, her voice alone could make him believe she was actually there, yet despite him thinking it was an hallucination, it was obvious that his brother's blonde lover could see her from the way she was laughing.

"I'm not a bad person, I like to think I have more class than Haley"

"If I may ask Katerina what did Haley do that warrants a push down the stairs?" He spoke naturally, as tough he saw ghosts like her all the time, if it was a hallucination, at worst Caroline Forbes would've think him eccentric at best a man with a sense of humor.

Instead he saw Caroline's eyes widen "you can see her" she gasped "she's a spirit in crossroads, nobody else apart from me should be able to see her" she looked from Katherine to him then back to Katherine taking in his every feature and heaving a sigh of defeat as tough she expected as much "You are Elijah aren't you?"

"No Caroline anybody else but him! Please" Katherine groaned "Please don't say it, please don't say it"

" And you are Caroline Forbes, Nikalus's intended, now would you please explain why you are so comfortable with the ghost of Katerina Petrova and why she is here in our breakfast room?"

"oh of course, bad manners sorry, Katherine is my guardian spirit, she got stuck in the crossroads between heaven and hell so for lack of a better job, she's guarding my safety, that's why I'm the only person that can see her, other people just sense her or hear her voice at best..are you sure that you can see her?"

""She is wearing Prada from the 1999 spring collection and limited edition Channel heels from their first debut as a consolidated brand"

"Wow, you know your designers as well as Katherine does..it's spooky" Caroline laughed "it's just so funny, the witches said that only other person that's supposed to be able to see her is her soulmate"

Elijah looked at Katherine's ghost and this time he was the one who's eyes went wide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love sass queen Katherine! one chapter to go, now questions questions, next chapter I'll tie up the loose ends left in this chapter, this was halfway written already so I tried to write fast, sorry I didn't include Katherine's meeting with the underworld leader, you'll see him in the next chapter promise..


	3. A deal made with Hades

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elijah and Katherine always did have a complicated relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only the epilogue left

**After this there's only the epilogue**

Caroline immediately knew she'd made a mistake in blurting out that one as soon as she saw Elijah's face morph from surprised to in-your-face-furious, it was evident that Katherine had, if not known, then strongly suspected for a long time exactly who was her soulmate.

"want to tell him anything more personal Caroline? Hey since Elijah can see me now why not tell him about that pretty little prophecy the romani foretold on you, I'm sure that as the brother of my former worst enemy he's going to be absolutely thrilled to tattle right away" Katherine snapped immediately matching his angry look

"Katherine please" Caroline tried to sound conciliatory " you are being thickheaded again"

"oh no, you don't get to patronize me Forbes, in fact, I'm a ghost, I don't have to stay here for the aftermath of this little talk" she fumed gathering her ghost powers around her "Petrova out" she snapped before blinking herself away.

"Sorry about that, she's normally not this bitchy on Monday mornings" Caroline said turning to smile her brightest fake smile to Elijah, before moving to a nearby kettle and pouring a teacup of Earl Grey for him "tea?"

"care to tell me what that was about miss Forbes?" Elijah hummed choosing to take a seat across the kitchen island with her, nodding towards the kettle "one sugar please"

"I know" Caroline said her face brightening up as tough guessing how he took his tea was a great achievement "I mean Katherine told me, she debates about you a lot when she thinks I'm not paying attention, how you take your tea, what type of books you read when you are pissed off at Klaus, that you are obsessive about burning sage, your favorite brand of ties, it's still Hermes right?...sorry too much information? She said you like to pull people's hearts out when you are pissed off too" Caroline went on ticking her fingers like meeting Elijah was the highlight of her week "sorry again, I get ahead of myself, she's just told me so much about you, I feel like we're friends already" she said clapping her hands

"She talks about me really?" Elijah chuckled amused at Caroline's exuberant behavior, it was refreshing mostly to be near a girl as unaffected and carefree as she, she seemed to lack that touch of innate darkness that all supernatural tried to wear like an armor, all the opposite actually, her goodness WAS her armor "does she say good things?"

"Yes she does, I mean she IS alone in her plane of existence, nobody to manipulate or talk to when I'm not there so she has too much time alone to go over her earthly regrets, I always had the impression that you were Katherine's epic love, I don't know if it's a good thing or not because it's always...bittersweet, when she talks about you you know, like too much happiness and sadness at the same time, I always thought that you'd be this great asshole when I finally met you, instead..." Caroline lifted her eyes and Elijah was struck with the realization that yes, Caroline's goodness was an armor, but she wasn't as shallow as she would have the world believe "you are someone just as broken as she is"

"what would you know about being broken?"

" I knowenough to appreciate the good things" she replied with wistful sigh

"will you tell me about what she meant when she mentioned a prophecy by the romani then?, I confess that I'm intrigued, the romani don't usually receive vampires in their midst"

"they do if said vampire's destiny is to become queen over all the supernaturals" Caroline said in a very small voice "let's just say, Katherine isn't the only one with a soulmate here" she wasn't looking at Elijah as she said this but at Niklaus's figure in the distance

"he doesn't know does he?"

"that he's my soulmate? Or that every seer I met in my sabbatical leave predicted that we would rule the supernatural community together?"

"both" Elijah, even in all his seriousness couldn't stop a slight smile from touching his face

"the answer is no, Klaus thinks I'm having some sort of midlife sex crisis in which I chose him to purge myself of all my dirty urges...or something along those lines" Caroline groaned "arghhh what am I going to do! If I tell him...I don't know how he will even react"

"Yes you do miss Forbes, faced with that information we both know he will never let you go" Elijah finished for her

"do you know what it's like to have that pressure? I mean, it's not just him and me? It's like every supernatural community I've met, they were all like "hey when you are queen, remember this and this and this", they call me the "most benevolent" it's like I've already won an election I didn't know I was running for" Caroline suddenly began to ramble looking almost on the verge of a breakdown "and he, he's well..he's Klaus and he's unstable and romantic and sweet and murderous and I think one of these days I might lose it and blurt out the L word, but, he's lived to see a whole freaking lot and I'm suddenly faced with the cold hard realization that next to him I'm just a nobody baby vampire from Mystic Falls and he is monster, myth and legend Klaus Mikaelson" She squeaked "what if I'm not good at it...what if I'm not good at being Klaus's...Soulmate...maybe losing my mom brought out all my insecurities back from the grave, but I just want to give him some time to back out just in case he realizes I'm not worth the trouble"

"you know miss Forbes, soulmate is not a dirty word" Elijah nodded sipping his tea "well I don't know what kind of relationship you have with Niklaus, but I find it quite funny that you care so much about my brother's prospects, because I can tell you quite frankly that if the situation were reversed my brother would not be as concerned with your feelings, he would've hunt you down and used every single underhanded trick he knows about soulmates to force you to solidify the bond...Soulmates make vampires powerful you see, as a hybrid, nothing would have stood a chance against him, if he'd known about it first, I'm sure he would have seduced you to the brink of insanity and stolen your soul with the ease of a man on a mission" Elijah recited plainly putting the teacup down and quirked his brow "instead of that here you are, not wanting to take advantage of what we both know is a very powerful bit of knowledge, knowledge that not only could guarantee your safety and that of your friends but could very well make you the most powerful newborn vampire in the world, all this because you care for my brother"

" I can't spring this soulmate thing on him without warning"

"He would certainly do it to you"

"But I'm not him"

"more the reason why you should tell him soon"

"what would you have done then? If Katherine...you know, If you'd known she was your soulmate, when she was alive..or sort of alive" it was a very naive question to ask, even for Caroline, but Elijah had to remind himself that all she knew of him was from Katerina's tales and those of her friends in Mystic Falls, out of all the Mikaelsons, his brother's intended had been more in contact with Rebekah and Kol than any other of the family and Elijah tried to remember that compared to them and Niklaus, he must be the closest thing to a "good" original that she knew

"make no mistake, I would have done the same as Niklaus...Admittedly with a bit of more finesse but no less forcefully"

"She'll come around Elijah, I don't pretend to know her as well as you do, but I know she wont be able to stay away for long" Caroline moved to pat his arm across the kitchen island in what was meant to be a comforting gesture "if anything Katherine's ghost powers pull her back to me when I'm danger, so if she's not nagging your ear off in a few days, we will find a way to get my butt in semi life threatening situation so you can talk to her" she joked, sunny attitude returning in full force like whiplash

"the seers were right miss Forbes, you will undoubtedly make a benevolent queen" Elijah chose not to reply to her previous commentary seeing his brother had finished with Hayley "Niklaus, I see things have changed very little in my absence, I was just introducing myself to the subject of your latest painting, tough I must admit that your shading was wrong in a couple of places, in person miss Forbes really does give credit to your artistic skills"

Caroline chuckled at that, in Elijah speak, he was calling her beautiful while simultaneously needling Klaus, Katherine had told her about that "And your manners give credit to everything I've heard about you too Elijah, but then again I told you already, you are a Mikaelson, I expected you to be either an overly charming version of Kol...or a boring version of Klaus"

"didn't know you knew my brother so well love" Klaus growled Klaus growled with a possessive tone, warping his arm around her waist making Caroline roll her eyes

"I listen to Rebekah's gossip ok, plus Elena was totally halfway in love with him when he did business with the gang back in the day..you can't blame for being a bit curious"

"Elena always did have a "curious" taste in men if you ask me"

"you are right, she's the one who thinks Damon Salvatore is the love of her life, and I don't judge her but come on the way she painted Elijah, you would think he was a candidate for sainthood"

"he isn't"

"I'm not" they both replied at the same time

Klaus looked in Elijah's direction again and once again tightened his grip on Caroline, wolf instincts rearing their head "And you brother? care to tell me why you seem to be in such friendly terms with my guest already?" his tone was perfectly friendly but the way his body was angled towards Caroline communicated possession in the purest form, alpha body language screaming at his elder brother exactly who the girl at his side belonged to, _mine, mine, mine, you don't get to have her_

"merely congratulating her on her tea making skills and don't worry about our conversation, your guest was just debating with me the pros and cons of pushing miss Marshall of a flight of stairs"

"Still debating apparently, but I'm leaning towards the pros" Caroline snapped crossing her arms over her chest then disengaging from Klaus's arms before glaring at him "oh and by the way the next time you want to introduce me to your brother as your "guest" please remember to do it when I'm not here so I don't feel as cheap as I do now" with that she stalked out of the breakfast room muttering under her breath "yeah, I'm wearing his shirt, smell mostly of his scent and haven't seen the outside of his bedroom in days..sure I'm a freaking guest...just sure..lets pretend I'm a booty call while we're at it"

"Caroline, Caroline I did not mean it like that love!" Niklaus glared at Elijah who was covering his mouth for his brother not to see his smile "This is all your fault"

"it might help if you introduce miss Forbes as your lover from now on...let everyone get used to it before adding the term of "consort" in the future...both words have less chances of offending her either way"

"I hate you" Klaus snapped like a petulant child "any other supremely useful advice you want to give oh holier than thou elder brother?"

" I approve of her, it might not be a bad idea if you asked her to stay"

"I already did once, she's only here for Mardi Gras"

"Mardi was almost four weeks ago, ask her again" Elijah was too dignified for a shrug but if he could he would have "miss Forbes looks like she's waiting for you to try to change her mind"

"Elijah"

"yes Niklaus"

"I really really do hate you"

"the feeling is mutual when you are this obtuse" Elijah sighed with exasperation before getting up from his seat.

Meanwhile Katherine found herself going back to her spot in the crossroads in between heaven and hell, instead of wandering trough New Orleans waiting for that jerk of Elijah to figure out her favorite hiding places. Self preservation dictated that she go somewhere he couldn't follow, hence why she was back in the crossroads.

Except that once she got there, there was someone already waiting for her.

"Well if it isn't the survivor doppelganger, I admit you really are the most resilient of them all" The handsome man greeted in a friendly manner, like an old friend who was waiting for a hug "you have kept me waiting a bit Petrova"

"who are you? Only higher ranking spirits can linger this much in my plane of existence" Katherine cut to the chase.

"why you don't recognize me? I would think after being dead for so long you would know about me, let me give you a hint, I'm the one that took over after Hades retired to Olympus" he was a handsome young man, dressed in a long black military style coat and equally dark pants, his face was chiseled to perfection in the way only deities and very old vampires can achieve, blue eyes, brown hair, tied back in a low ponytail, the perfect avenging angel.

"Are you the Devil? I mean I've met Lucifer and he's not this handsome"

"I know, my wife says the same thing, but no, I'm more like the guy that overlooks the board, not one of the players"

"You are the ruler of the underworld aren't you?"

"And you are as sharp as the fates said you were" The handsome man chuckled, in a way that was too familiar for Katherine to think it coincidence "Yes, I'm the one who rules the souls of every bad human, I wouldn't call it underworld, or hell, it's just a very Greek thing, I just call it home...my wife tough, she's the boss in the upper lands, she rules over the good souls"

"What do you want from me? I thought they couldn't allow my soul entrance to your place down below" Katherine asked with her best no nonsense tone "by the way! Yay on the holy deity being a girl, I am one hundred percent behind that" she added as an after thought

"We still can't, but there's been talk about you in the higher realm, angels think your little project with the soon-to-be-queen of Vampires means that you still have good in you so they want to redeem you, of course your soul's power would feed a thousand of my demons so you can understand why I was looking into ways to open up my own doors to you, in the end my wife and I conferred with the fates and we came to an detente, one that will benefit you in the long run I assume"

"Do I even want to know what it's about? No offense but everything the fates have done for me hasn't exactly made me trust it..or them"

"I came to offer you a proposition, one so attractive you won't be able to turn down, you will like the deal doppelganger, I can almost guarantee it"

"Oh yeah and you know me so well" she challenged crossing her arms over her chest

"you're a survivor, what I'll offer you in behalf of the fates, will be exactly that..a chance to survive" the ruler of the underworld said again barely hiding his amusement

"I hear you"

"If we cannot admit you in the upper or lower worlds, we figured we could do the next best thing and send you back to earth" he conjured the wispy image of a random couple decorating a nursery, the woman gently patting her pregnant belly "we offer a rebirth, your soul will be recycled and reborn again, you forget everything, no, past, no knowledge, you will be essentially a blank slate with leave to live your new life as you see fit" the wispy image changed again and he showed her the ultrasound of an unborn baby

"what's good about being reborn if I won't remember anything?" Katherine pointed out bluntly "takes out all the fun of surviving five hundred years...that pesky thing of loosing it all"

"true" the man said with a shrug "but this new life will be yours and only yours, no interference from witches, no doppelganger curse, no vampires in miles from where you will be born... essentially we will be giving back everything the fates themselves denied you from the moment of conception"

"You mean that reincarnation does exist? The Egyptians were right go figure"

"it is only for special circumstances Petrova girl" her interlocutor said sardonically "If all souls in the natural world were recycled, that would create quite a mess...reincarnation is only for spirits that either deserve a second chance...or have unfinished business"

"Will you let me think about it?...I mean it does sound too good to be true and don't think for a moment that I don't know that this is just an elaborate ploy to get me out of your collective spiritual hair..but, before I agree to have a spiritual wipe down, I want to be sure of it" Katherine explained, thinking about Caroline...and Elijah.

"Phillip and Teresa Peterson have been married for three years, they've been going to fertility treatments for just as long" The lord of the lands below said instead, again conjuring back the image of the couple he'd shown Katherine before "Phillip is American, he made his fortune working as a diplomatic liaison between his government and the government of Argentina, he met his wife cosmetic heiress Teresa de Andalluz on a cruise ship in the Caribbean, together they are both very wealthy and any child of theirs would be provided for in the best of ways" the image changed and again Katherine was treated to a view of the beautiful nursery the couple had been decorating "four months ago, the fertility treatments worked and their baby as you might already be guessing, will be a healthy little girl" then the image vanished and the man looked at her with those piercing blue eyes that reminded Katherine so much of death "Buenos Aires is the commercial city with the lowest amount of supernatural beings in the world, neither Phillip or Teresa have had any ancestry that could be either wolf or witch for generations, their baby will not be hunted for powers she doesn't understand, or be prosecuted for blood she doesn't know she carries or be forced to trigger a gene that would turn her into a monster..you have four months Katerina, chose wisely"

"what if I say no"

"you will be stuck here in the crossroads forever"

Suddenly Katherine felt a pull in her gut, that signified Caroline was in danger, shit, she'd lingered way too long, time passed different in the crossroads than it did on earth " I need to go, I promise I will tell you my choice soon, but before I go...why are you doing this? Who are you?"

"I thought you were the great trickster Katerina Petrova, you tell me?"

"I'm just going to take a wild guess and say it was nice meeting you Henrik"

Henrik Mikaelson let out a bark of laughter that was both Elijah and Klaus mixed in one "likewise for me it was nice meeting the sharpest doppelganger in the box, which is why I have to get rid of you before you try to take over my realm"

Katherine felt the pull grow stronger and she almost groaned "until we meet again cupcake, see ya"

"See ya too Kat" and for a moment before Katherine blinked herself back to Caroline's she saw Henrik morph into a fourteen year old boy, looking every inch the little viking he must have been when he'd died, winking at her, he held the illusion for a minute before again returning to his original look "my offer won't stand forever"

Back in earth Katherine realized she'd been gone for days, it was the first conversation she'd had with another being in the crossroads since Liz passed by and it really did a whole number on her sense of timing.

"I leave for a couple of days and you decide it will be nice to get captured and tortured? Oh come on Care I thought we moved past that when daddy dearest was laid to rest" Katherine snarked as she materialized herself in a room where they held Caroline captive, she didn't offer reassuring words, or try to mollycoddle if anything Katherine took a moment to laugh at Caroline's misery "oh wow and here I thought banging Klaus was the solution to your problems"

Caroline, drenched in vervain and hissing north and south actually managed a small smile in her small cell "did it hurt when you used your brain that hard?"

""Not as much as those vervain ropes must be hurting you cupcake" Katherine cackled "now walk me trough this please, which wounded soul was it that you decided to help and ultimately betrayed you this time?"

"hey who yah talking to girl" the guard in the door snapped looking trough the bars of the torture room

"My imaginary friend idiot, I'm hallucinating from your werewolf venom! Who the hell do you think I'm talking to" Caroline screamed channeling her inner Katherine "And FYI it wasn't a wounded soul, it was the were-slut and her bumpkin groupies, I said I'm bored and she said I have an idea and I said I don't like you and she said lets go shopping so you can bond with Hope and I said ok fine and bam! Hillbilly wolves are kidnapping me, hillbilly wolves Casper! I've reached a new low" she screamed when another bucket of vervain was thrown on her body while Katherine stood there laughing "Stop laughing you are supposed to help me!"

"I am, just wait until I finish laughing about this" Katherine wheezed slapping her knee in mirth

"we aren't helping you, shut up already bitch" the guards that threw the vervain water shouted back

"Stupid Hayley and stupid Marcel and Stupid Cami, I want to go home! Get me home! I want to bite Klaus so he can make me feel yummy again"

"oookay, venom is making you talk like a three year old" Katherine giggled "can you at least stand?"

"they injected me with vervain and I haven't fed for days, you are lucky I'm lucid"

"and that you have a high tolerance for werewolf venom apparently"

"find Elijah, I'm pretty sure I'm still in the same state as him, please, I beg you, I don't want to die without killing Hayley" Caroline slurred in a quiet voice closing her eyes "everything hurts" she said in a lower tone

"Care you forget that I know when you are faking"

"the guards don't"

"Fine, I'll find Elijah, but just for the record, you owe me!, I could have blasted us both out of this cell with my ghost powers and you know it"

"too weak to walk" Caroline hissed

"yeah yeah" Katherine snapped "I'll be back with a rescue team"

carefully she walked trough the wall and floated trough the corridors of the large abandoned underground building they seemed to be holding Caroline in, it really was a maze, no wonder Care bear hadn't been rescued. The building led to an empty street and it was just her luck that it was the most remote location from civilization, she read a couple of property signs to map her geographical position and when she was sure she knew where she was, she closed her eyes and tried something she'd never done before "okay, ghost powers don't fail me now, I want to be where Elijah is" and in an instant she blinked herself away

when she opened her eyes again, she was in a moving car, with Elijah...and Rebekah..and the were slut "Oh good it worked! I didn't think it would, but yay for me"

Elijah almost crashed the car when he saw her translucent form in the rear view mirror "Katerina!" he almost screeched

both Hayley and Rebekah's heads snapped up with wary and resentful expressions "Elijah what?"

"Calm down mi lord, I'm not here to torment you..yet" Katherine said in a business like tone "I'm here because Caroline is in danger, which was by the way entirely planned by your super magical unicorn wolf princess over here, but that's neither here not there" she shrugged sending a brief glare to a quizzical Hayley "the point is, I need to rescue her and since she's too weak to do it herself, what with being drowned in vervain and all, I came here to make you save her butt...or make you make Klaus save her butt, I don't care about semantics as long as Caroline lives, so since you are the next physical being I can communicate with in this god forsaken planet here's a trick Caroline perfected, open your phone, make a random call and pretend you are leaving a voicemail so the people with supernatural hearing don't think you are being spelled by a witch"

Elijah sighed in a motion that said he agreed before doing just as she instructed and calling a number he knew would not answer "hello Selwynn, this is Elijah, I was calling to inform you that my brother is looking for miss Caroline Forbes indeed and that so far there has been little trace of her anywhere, our entire family promised to give him any information we gleaned from our various sources so I am making sure that you know of my intention to find her and personally deliver her back to my brother safe and sound"

"Is that so? Well, she's not safe and sound thanks to that magical wolf troll princess you like so much, listen to me and listen to me well, Caroline is underground, she's in a world war era bunker down at a property that's almost in the border of New Orleans called Eden Hills, tell Klaus that she has wolf venom in her system but has been resisting it like a champ so far" Katherine told Elijah and saw him give an almost imperceptible nod before focusing on his phone

"And before I end this call, I want you to know that anything else you know, will be appreciated" Elijah said firmly almost cracking his phone with his grip on it

"the were slut set her up and she's in pain, so I suggest you hurry before I take matters into my own hands..and trust me, an angry guardian spirit is something you don't want in New Orleans"

With that Elijah pressed the brakes and rapidly made a U turn "Lijah, why are we going back?" Rebekah wondered as he sped trough the streets making sure to keep an eye on Hayley

"I just had a enlightening idea of where miss Forbes could be and also why she's there in the first place"

As soon as she'd done her job naturally Katherine blinked herself back to Caroline's side, using her protective force fields to shield the blond vampire from any other nasty thing that could be thrown into the cell, it was the first time since she'd been protecting Caroline that she'd had to use her powers so forcefully, force fields took energy and energy had to be taken from somewhere when you didn't have a physical body, so Katherine knew that if Caroline's swat team didn't appear soon, she'd be in big trouble when her ghost energy ran out.

Elijah on the other hand had to navigate the fine line between lying to Klaus about it all being his idea to look for Caroline in a random place and actually accusing the mother of his child of trying to murder the love of his life, he did it in a very Elijah way of course, but he could have gone without the drama.

"Klaus? Did you find me I'm not hallucinating right? They said you wouldn't come, they said you weren't looking for me" Caroline wheezed when Klaus stormed trough the door of her cell, to where she was tied up in vervain ropes

"I'm here love, you're safe" Klaus said almost gently as he worked on untying the ropes "stay still, you need your strength"

"did you kill the wolves that had me locked up?" she mumbled as he pulled her up into his arms and cradled her most fragile body to his chest "Because I almost wished I could have killed them...does that make me a monster?"

"No sweetheart, you are the furthest thing from a monster that I know, wanting to hurt those that hurt you is nothing to be ashamed of" he whispered into her head and felt her nod

"if I fall asleep will you still be here when I wake up? No hallucination?"

"here love, drink this, it will help you heal faster" he said pushing a vial of his blood to her lips

"it tastes like you" she said gulping the blood down and closing her eyes while she adjusted herself in his chest.

"oh come on this is so sweet it's giving me cavities, Elijah, don't just stand there, Caroline's clothes are ripped up because of the sun burns and the vervain, offer her your jacket go on" Katherine said crossing her arms

Elijah once again did as he was told, feeling slightly amused in the way she protected Caroline.

And then when they were back in the manor and Caroline was safely cossetted in Niklaus' bedroom, only then did Elijah turn to Katherine and say "we need to talk"

"no, no we don't" Katherine replied shaking her head and daring him to contradict her.

So Elijah left it alone and went to his study, Katherine's ghost in tow and while the dead doppelganger knew there was nothing she would have loved more than to know he could see her a year ago, now it was different, now that she'd been dead for some time with no hope of escape she was acutely aware of her own intangible state, she would hurt him, she knew that because yes he could see her but dammit even then there was no way she could touch him, he was in the earth plane and she was in the crossroads, it was impossible.

but Katherine didn't point it out for him, he already knew, so instead she talked, told him things, everything really, all those conversations she wished she could have with him when she could only talk to Caroline, she talked about his family, his enemies, his allies, made mean remarks about the people in the quarter and once or twice joked about the strange guardianship role he played over Davina and liked to reminiscence their good times together.

she never told him she loved him again, Katherine Pierce had never been selfless but this was the one time she wanted to spare Elijah that painful knowledge.

the weeks passed and Elijah's siblings began to get suspicious, as did Hayley with whom Elijah hadn't spoken since Klaus almost killed her for plotting against Caroline, not that any of the Mikaelsons had spoken to her since then, with Klaus suddenly all too occupied trying to woo the woman he really loved and Rebekah finally getting to live out her picket fence fantasies with baby Hope, the only other person Klaus and Rebekah really noticed apart from themselves was Elijah, and yes, they where getting suspicious.

Caroline could usually temper Klaus, but Rebekah was too perceptive with Elijah.

Since Caroline's rescue, he'd begun to become increasingly moody, one minute looking very pleased with himself after sharing unknown Intel about a new plot against them and the next looking very frustrated, talking to himself more and more when he thought they couldn't hear him and staying cooped up in the house too much. then there where the things Elijah knew, how he sniffed out enemies and revenge plans before their foes even thought about becoming a serious threat, how he anticipated news from their allies and always seems strangely up to date with the personal lives of well...everyone in the vicinity.

Sure Elijah had always had some sort of omniscient quality about him but lately it was getting scary how much he knew.

Elijah on the other hand had begun to see Katerina's ghost form way too clearly (it was driving him mad) how does a vampire fall in love with a ghost?, he knew what they had was something impossible, beautiful and incomparable, for him who had found out about her death months after it happened, having Katherine at his side was something he had wished for ages, yet he knew it was also wrong.

She wasn't alive, he couldn't touch her, gods, he couldn't kiss her, but how could he tell her to leave when he had loved her for the better part of five hundred years?, he still did, but now their relationship has once again evolved into something unhealthy, the eldest Mikaelson never understood the meaning of what humans called platonic love, until now, they talked, walked and laughed together, she understood him better now and he had finally learned to see her as Katherine, not just Katerina, but they could not touch and he knew it was painful for her, yet they where both selfish in that aspect/

He could not tell Katerina to leave anymore than she could offer to go, she willingly tortured herself and him by remaining at his side and he could not for the life of him tell her to stop, because a part of him was just as selfish as her, he wanted her to stay, no matter the wrongness of his wish, he was not daft, he knew she loved him as well, which was why it is so wrong.

of course there where advantages to living with his own personal ghost as she was quick to point out in an effort to prove she could be useful to him, a silent way of begging him not to get rid of her via witch, because she was still Katherine Pierce who had made a living and been sold and hunted down by Klaus because of the things she could bargain with, he reasoned that even in death she didn't know any other way to earn someone's good graces, but yes she was right, being a ghost in the other side Katerina could easily eavesdrop on New Orleans current witch covens, listen in into the plans of any new vampires and provide eyes and ears in any place Elijah couldn't physically be in.

Strategically it was a wonderful tool.

The downside of course was that lacking the abilities to pick up the remote control to the TV, Katerina amused herself with the personal relationships of others in the vicinity, Niklaus and Caroline mostly seemed to be her favorite target, so apart from reporting the usual threat alarms and coven secrets she could glean out with ghostly precision from her place in casper land, Katerina liked to gossip in his ear a lot when Caroline was otherwise occupied with his brother, sometimes unnecessarily so, which resulted in him often having useless and not so useless knowledge on which warlock was having an affair with the leader of which rival coven and which teenage werewolf was planning on running away to Alaska.

it wast as if Katherine didn't like to gossip with Caroline, is that for a ghost that wasn't really living, Elijah still made her feel happy, when she talked to him, she felt better, alive, even when she knew she wasn't.

And happy for them was such a dangerous place to be.

And then Henrik said the words that carved her choice in stone "If you reincarnate, what's to stop you from finding him again Kat?, soulmates transcend space and time, if a it took a thousand years before the fates found the soul that was Klaus' perfect match, what's to say they won't bring you both together again" her four months were almost over, Teresa Peterson would give birth soon she could see it in Henrik's projection

"I need to say goodbye first"

"take all the time you need, but remember that you are not allowed to tell anybody the details of our deal else the fates might get nasty with you"

"Fine" Katherine agreed "I'll be back soon then"

her goodbye to Caroline was as emotional as she feared as a ghost Katherine couldn't cry, but Caroline did for both of them anyway, Katherine explained that no she wasn't going towards the light and no she wasn't going to hell either, she was getting sort of a do-over, she told Caroline to come clean to Klaus about her ghostly existence once she'd been gone for long enough and to please look out for Elijah, extracting a promise about keeping an eye out for his bad taste in women when she was gone.

"I've never had a best friend Forbes, but if I had to chose, you would be it" The hardest part was that Caroline understood, she understood so profoundly it was almost easy to let go, because Caroline knew she herself wouldn't want to be stuck in limbo forever if there was another choice and it made the doppelganger wish she'd had a friend like that in her era.

And then it all came down to talking to Elijah.

Their talk wasn't pretty, they started out with an argument over her not telling him before and it escalated before dying down to embers of what could only be a heartbreaking goodbye.

"isn't this how we usually go? You stay in one place I leave, I stay in one place you leave" Katherine said defeated "five hundred years, you would think a girl would learn not to hope for happiness by now"

"I can't lose you again for a second time Katerina, please don't ask that of me" Elijah almost begged

"But I want you to be happy and you can't be, while I am ghost, perhaps I'll find you when I reincarnate, perhaps I won't but I need to hope, I know it will hurt, you will hate me, but I'm used to that coming from you/I don't want to continue like this, all I ever seem to do is hurt you"

"I can never hate you Katerina, not even in my darkest moments"

"Then don't ask me to stay when I know that my situation is tearing you apart"

"But I love you" Elijah whispered in a broken voice "I would take the pain of having you here as a ghost, if only it meant that I could at least keep a part of you with me"

"And I'm the one that cannot let you do that Elijah" Katherine replied, holding back a very sad croak " look at what a mess we are, the last time I said I loved you, you turned your back and walked away from me" Katherine said with a wistful sort of sadness " now that you are the one saying it, I'm the one who cannot stay...some would call it a poetic ending"

"it's not an ending, don;t say that Katerina, you are not going anywhere, as your soulmate I forbid you to"

"Goodbye my love, please" Katherine said with finality, dropping all her sarcasm to let him see a piece of the innocent peasant girl she used to be once "let me be unselfish this once" and pressing a translucent kiss to his lips, Katherine dissipated.

And in a gesture of absolute grief, Elijah let out a painful scream.

Henrik didn't say anything when Katherine met him back in the crossroads...he just put her soul into stasis and took it down under to where the fates lived. He'd seen her saying goodbye, he knew what Katherine was giving up, he just hoped she was satisfied with her end of the bargain.

One month later on the other side of the planet, a wealthy couple who thought themselves infertile, would welcome a long awaited child into their lives, a healthy baby girl with green eyes and brown clumps of hair in her head.

_"oh look at her Phillip, isn't she beautiful?" Teresa Peterson cooed over the red faced screaming newborn "what should we name her, she doesn't look like a Phillipa or a Teresa to me"_

_the baby's father took one look at his new disgruntled daughter who'd been disrupting all the other babies in the maternity ward with her little shrieks and smiled "How about Katrina? Like the hurricane, after all she's already a forced to be reckoned with in the nursery"_

_"it;s perfect dear" Teresa agreed kissing the top of her baby's head "hello Katrina, welcome to the world"_

Then for the first time since her birth a few hours earlier, the baby laughed.

And somewhere, somehow far from there, a thousand year old vampire felt the pulse of his soulmate thread, flare alive again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An: one epilogue to go, where we jump to eighteen years later, see how Caroline and Klaus are doing, catch up with Rebekah, Stefan, Enzo and Kol and of course Elijah will meet eighteen year old Katrina Peterson (and yes I totally changed the spelling so I could officially named her after the famous hurricane that almost destroyed NOLA in 2005..LET ME HAVE MY IRONIES DAMMIT). Also kudos on hot twenty something Henrik Mikaelson ruler of the underworld
> 
> Note: Vote on this, should I include a Klaroline wedding in 18 year later epilogue? Yes/ No, is it too tacky? Should I let Klaroline live in sin to annoy Elijah and Rebekah's sensibilities?. Also, who should Katrina meet again first, Caroline (best friend) or Elijah (soulmate), I'm kinda torn, there's the chicks before dicks rule, but I also adore Kalijah

**Author's Note:**

> An: Can you guys imagine Katherine giving running commentary on Klaroline's sex life? I can..I totally can...plus is anybody curious about what these bunch of witches told Caroline when they read her palm?...comming up next: KLAROLINE is reunited, and while commenting on everyone's sex technique Katherine gets a visit from the devil (okay he's not the devil, he's just the guy in charge of the human underworld) and you wouldn't believe the deal he has for little ole Kat.


End file.
